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Arriving in Cairns after a six hour bus journey we had been in contact with some of the guys from Fraser Island who were also now in Cairns.. we just can't get away! Pedar, Anna, Ed and Emma were all in Cairns for our arrival. In typical Fraser Island fashion a Goon night had been organisedand as before we offered our hostel room and balcony to be the feeding ground for the fun.
There is a hostel in Cairns called Gilligan's that had been recommended to me by at least seven people and it was quite obvious from the moment we saw the reception why. It is set in a mall with a huge open and very modern reception, not disimilar to that you'd find in your average 4 Star hotel, with a large bar opposite. There is a gym, laundry, pool, bar and even Gilligans bottled water.. I'm guessing a lot of money has been spent on this place.
The rooms were pretty standard for a Dorm with 8 beds with nice clean shower etc.
After a quick pizza in the resturaunt at the front of the hostel we see 'the Fraser crew' heading our way armed with box filled
carrier bags and happy, smiley and excited faces. We make ourselves comfortable on the balcony to begin the proceedings. Then the superstar that is the real-life Borat (Sefi) knocks on the door and the crowd is lifted. The usual goon drinking games erupted and the laughter and noise could probably be heard on Fraser Island istelf! we finished the night at a very busy and slightly grotty bar called the Woolshed, but fun was had by all, and the new Matt, Si and Chris dance moves came out in full force (you'll just have to wait and see?)
Wednesday, pumped from our Whitsundays diving, we were on a mission to organise a dive to the Great Barrier Reef one of the 10 wonders of the world and a must see activity in Cairns. We had been recommended to go to a place called 'We of the Never Never' to book our dive as it is one of the cheapest places to do it. After being shown a number of different boat trips ranging from very expensive to very cheap. we ended up on the cheapest boat but had also been told that it was still a really good dive,
so $106 well spent we thought. Chris was unable to join us due to a nasty throat infection so it was just Matt and myself booked for the trip.
We did nothing else all day apart from interneting and under watercamera investigating. Whilst on the internet we booked our flight to Melbourne throught Virgin Blue for $250 each for the 28th. I wanted to be in Melbourne before the 1st of May to meet an old friend from Byron, so all was sorted. We found a dive photography hire centre where we were able to hire a digital camera for $50, so that was then sorted for the next days dive. When booking the dive we got given free entree meal vouchers at a place called Rhinobar so we took full advantage of the offer. We had told the womoan we booked the trip with that we would be in Cairns for 4 nights so we were able to get two entree meals absolutley free, we didn't even by a drink and then we left, brilliant!! Whilsy walking through Cairns we spotted Pedar and Anna where we said our final goodbyes before they depart to go back home to Sweden.
That's the worst part of travelling loving and leaving newly made friends, but it's all part if the travelling package!
Thursday, we were up at 7:30 excited about the prospect of another scuba dive. A quick breakfast the usual two slices of toast with peanut butter and we headed to the jetty to check ourselves two by two onto Noah's Ark. The crew were a rough and ready bunch but quite a lot of fun and very slack with rules and regulations etc. As we motored out of the harbour and the larger, faster, nicer boats flew past us. We had two hours to enjoy the surroundings until we reached our first diving location. The weather was very ominous as large black clouds were visible in the distance and little pockets of blue sky were in the minority. The dive instructor ran us through the basic skills once again and we were ready to dive. Jumping into the ocean off the back of the boat kitted up with our diving gear we were then lead deeper, but with my wetsuit there was a bit of trouble keeping me underwater so he had to apply more weights to my jacket,
adn deflate the jacket quite a few times. The dive was cool once again seeing the magic of the vibrant underwater world. Fish darted around us and the coral and the nout of no-where a large sea turtle swam off from under us made bearly visible by it's camoflage. This was one of the animals we were both desperate to see so armed with the camera Matt began snapping away and I was able to get right along side it stroking it's armed plated back shell, very cool indeed!!!! It was then on to further depths where we saw the little fish similar to 'Nemo', but a slightly different species. The dive wqs about 30 minutes and the it was back up the boat. An awesome dive, with the turtle being the ultimate highlight! Back on board lunch was served which consisted of bread, sandwich meat, potato salad, salad and pasta, must be a standard boat menu for all trips?!
We hoisted the anchor and headed to our second dive spot which was just off a stunningly beautiful sand island. The coral was rather shallow here and some parts peeped out of the water and gleemed in the afternoon sun.
We were so lucky here, it was like a parting in the clouds directly above the island and blue skies, white sand and the azure sea glistened in magnificence. No wetsuit was needed here so grabbing our snorkles and masks and our camera we were able to swim off and explore the natural splendor of the Great Barrier Reef. Swimming in, through and around the incredible colours and shapes of the coral the fish nipped around feeding from the coral and investingating the two under water swimmers.
It was seriously spectacular with a plethora of coral and fish to explore. I then spotted a large fish lay still on the sand beneath me, looking not too unlike a cat fish. So like true explorers of the ocean we dived down towards it to see a white tipped fin on it's back and a long slender body with a point face... realizing we had come across a White Tipped Reef Shark, the last and final underwater being we had also been desperate to see in real-life. Sharks and turtles in one day, not bad! I was able, once again, to dive down and swim right along side the shark looking directly
into it's eye's as it gracefully yet swifting swam away, amazing!!!
After that it was back on board and back to dry land.
That night we met up with Ed and Emma again and Sefi and a couple of other people for more goon fun on our balcony for our last night in Cairns, again ending up in the Woolshed, but it wasn't all that great, the drinking and laughing on the balcony as always was the funniest and highlight of the night.
Too easy... today we fly to Melbourne where we aim to settle, work and live for 3 months.
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Stacey
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I TOLD YOU SO
Didn't I tell you you could bite the bums off those ants and eat them? How you scoffed! And what about those fly things that can bite through leather and when one dies the others come and slam the lamb in it? Now do you believe me about that?!! xxx